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UNDERSTAND THE EBIKE MOVEMENT

As industry experts, we’ve thought of some questions that we can help you answer about e-bikes.

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Mid Drive or Hub Drive – Which Is Right for Me?

Hub-drive electric bikes integrate highly efficient, cost-effective drive systems that are built directly into the hub of either of the wheels. Modern electric motors have high efficiency RPM ranges, which makes this setup ideal for commuting around the city, light trail use and offer easy, relaxed riding.

Hub drives are often compatible with throttles, as the bike’s drivetrain (gears) is separate from the electric drive system. They are also low-maintenance and highly reliable.

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Mid-drive electric bikes have the motor unit built into the crank compartment, which provides torque directly into your pedaling effort. This means that the drive outputs torque to the drivetrain (gears) instead of directly to the wheel, meaning that you can refine the motor’s most efficient RPM level using the different gear ratios. In practice, this allows the bike to climb steeper hills, but also reach higher speeds, much in the same way as a gearbox works in a car. However, mid-drive electric bikes aren’t for everybody. Some find that they are more complicated to use, as mid-drives have more moving parts and take some time to learn how to effectively use.

Electric Bikes NZ recommends talking to a Smartmotion dealer about which type is right for you, as the right choice will depend on the type of riding that you are wanting to do, and ultimately what you want out of your e-bike.

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How far (range) will e-bikes go on a charge?

This is a little like how long is a piece of string… depending on how you ride, how much assistance you use, the wind, road surface, tyre pressure, etc, will all affect the distance that you will achieve on a charge.

If we take a look at the eCity with a 36v 15.6ah battery… on level 3 assistance, normal city riding, you’d expect around 50km rang but on very hilly terrain, with full assistance, range could be 30km… and on easy flat terrain, assistance level 2, the range could be over 100km.

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Is riding an eBike cheating?

We get asked this question a lot… our answer, NO!! Riding an eBIke is the same, just faster, if you want, or easier, less sweaty, if you want, or, exactly the same as a normal bicycle, if you want.

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You chose how you use the assistance. Studies show ebike users get, on average, over twice as much exercise and normal bicycle owners, due to the clear statistic that they use the ebike a lot more, and feel confident to push harder, knowing they always have the assistance to get them over that last hill.

Owning an eBIke has transformed many of our customers lives… getting them back out there, enjoying riding again. One of our eCity owners hadn’t ridden a bike for years and I crossed paths with him as I pulled into my driveway and we got chatting… He was on a 150km round trip that day and had clocked over 2000km in 6 weeks! He was almost in tears when he described what this meant to him, how it had changed his life. Now, I don’t think that is cheating is it?